***Reposted from my former blog in 2016***
Today’s corporate America is standing on a great divide that has leadership taking to the trenches. This battle is between the Work at Home (WAH) team and the In the Office (No cool acronym) team and all of corporate America is up in arms. According to Monster.com there are pros and cons to both options that are available.
Let’s look at the WAH team first. Some of the Pros of working at home include the following:
- Your commute is drastically reduced – Imagine that rather than getting ready for your workday and hopping into the car to fight traffic into your workplace, you quickly make yourself presentable (If you have to use a webcam) and log into your terminal in the comfort of your personal office. The reduced stress of rush hour traffic as well as fighting for an elevator has been removed from your morning routine instantly!
- You have the opportunity to write off portions of your home office expense from your taxes – Lord knows that the Tax Man gets more than his equal share of your hard-earned money. If you can have a legal chance to take that money back from Mr. Tax Man then why not take advantage of it.
- Nobody is constantly dropping by your office/cubicle/desk – So much time is lost to side conversations to your coworkers. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a social butterfly and that has a lot to do with my loss of time. I sit directly outside of the break room at work. My daily foot traffic to my desk is typically at least seven or eight (welcomed guests) and forty to fifty passersby on their way to the lunch room. This constant feeding of my ADD provides an unwelcome productivity drain.
- Your Company doesn’t have to lease office space – Prime office space comes at a premium in any city you may work within. According to thesquarefoot.com, a 5000 sqft spot in NYC on Madison Ave will set you back $30K per month. This is serious capital which could be reinvested into the company by letting the employees work from home.
Now, let’s look at some of the cons of working at home:
- Productivity is based upon you – You will only be as productive as you make yourself. There will be no manager standing over you cracking the whip or ensuring you are pacing yourself to meet your deadlines. If you are not a self-driving individual then being WAH may not be best for you.
- Communication is reliant upon technology – Are you still using a flip-phone? Do you still hear a screeching dial tone when you log onto your computer? Does your computer welcome you with “You got mail!”? Technology might not be your strong point and WAH might not be best for you.
- Do you thrive from being with people – If you are an extrovert and gain energy from the contact of other coworkers then sitting in a secure, quiet place at home is probably not going to feed into your natural needs. I would advise taking a Myers-Brigg test online and if your classification starts with an “E” then WAH is probably not a good fit for you.
Taking into consideration the argument for working at home, there is the other side of this conundrum that says you need to work in the office. Here are a few pros for why you should work in the office:
- Collaboration is important – Being able to meet face-to-face in a team setting opens up the opportunity for synergies to take place. Whether iron is sharpening iron or ideas are being brainstormed with the team, there is a lot to be said of the creativity that takes place when workers are in the same location.
- Communication lines are immediate – Like I said earlier, people stopping by the desk with questions are a regular thing. There is no need on waiting for an employee to come back from flipping over their laundry or being on do not disturb on their instant messenger. If the employee is sitting right there you can have free access to pick their brain as needed.
- Separating home and work rejuvenates you – Having a separation or work and home life provides the ability to separate your work time and your home lifetime. Having two separate areas of life for work and home provides the employee with a chance to rejuvenate their mind by leaving work at work rather than in the back office of the house where it is lurking and waiting for you. A rejuvenated employee is a more productive employee.
Finally, a couple of cons to working in the office (foreshadowed earlier):
- Constant interruptions – If you are available and seen at your desk then you automatically become the target for questions and conversations. If you sit in a high-traffic area then a constant stream of conversations eats into your productivity time.
- Physical plant resources – The cost of office space becomes more expensive every year. As businesses move into more concentrated areas for both human and physical resources the need to house these resources grows exponentially. Physical plant space for housing employees for the workday as well as utilities becomes a drain on the company’s bottom line.
So, where do you stand? Are you with the work at home team or the in the office team? Which do you prefer? So many questions and so much comment space for you to leave your thoughts!
